EHC is heartbroken and outraged by the United State Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade – a 1973 court case that made abortion legal in all 50 states. Now, 50 years later in 2022, each state gets to decide if women and people who can give birth have the fundamental right to decide what happens to their bodies. Environmental Health Coalition firmly believes that abortion is a human right and healthcare. Both are at the center of Environmental Health Coalitions’ work and mission. Getting to decide what happens to your body should not depend on your zip code.
Just as environmental racism impacts low-income communities of color, lack of access to abortion services will have a devastating impact on these same communities. Nearly half of women who seek abortion care live in households below the poverty line and abortion bans are predicted to increase maternal mortality by 21 percent. The United States already has the highest maternal mortality rate of industrialized countries.
Though abortion is still legal in California, we are deeply worried about our sisters and siblings in other states who no longer have this right. They may not have access to abortion as a lifesaving medical procedure. Abortion is the treatment for life-threatening conditions, like ectopic pregnancy. They may turn to illegal and dangerous abortion providers. Women and pregnant people will die because they won’t have access to safe abortion care.
EHC stands with our partners as we continue to fight for healthcare and human rights. We are grateful to the California Legislature for giving California voters the opportunity to add abortion rights to the state’s constitution. We also applaud Governor Gavin Newsom for signing an executive order that further protects women coming to California for abortion care.
EHC encourages you to donate to organizations that are fighting to preserve a woman’s and pregnant person’s right to choose, and to organizations that are helping people in states where abortion is illegal to travel to California for care. Below are two organizations doing great lifesaving work.
